Bound work with scarlet cover (5)
I believe the answer is:
roped
'bound' is the definition.
(bound with rope)
'work with scarlet cover' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'work' could be 'op' (common abbreviation for 'opus') and 'op' is present in the answer.
'scarlet' could be 'red' (synonyms) and 'red' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for roped that I've seen before include "Lassoed" , "held by painter" , "(Of climbers) connected together by line" .)